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The "Devil May Cry" series has always had an interesting history, musically. The first two games' soundtracks were notoriously difficult to obtain, with Capcom not officially releasing them until 2004. "Devil May Cry 3" and "Devil May Cry 4" soundtracks were easier to obtain and featured a distinctly "heavy" sound. Which is why it was surprising when Capcom revealed that the series reboot, "DMC Devil May Cry" would be composed by Dutch electronic band Noisia. This was certainly a change of musical pace to go with the story's overhaul, but whether or not you enjoy this will depend on your feelings on Noisia's breadth of electronica.

Last year, "Max Payne 3" set the standard for band-exclusive video game soundtracks. Health's noise rock sound managed to perfectly fit the game's story, while providing an equally accessible narrative of its own, outside of the game. It is clear that Noisia strove to create a similar feel with "DMC Devil May Cry" but it's not always as successful as they would like.

Noisia, both as a band and as the composers of this soundtrack, are at their best when they stick to the ambient, synth-fueled sounds, and DMC has its fair share of these. "Eyeless," "Home Truths," and "The Tower" all feature calm, dark atmospherics which are surprisingly enjoyable without context of story. Add to this more than a few touches of industrial/techstep influence in tracks like "The Order" and "Disoriented" and you have something very distinct that nearly rivals "Max Payne 3 Official Soundtrack" (the soundtrack I awarded Best of 2012). In fact, I would easily say that "Lilith's Club," which is an homage to Noisia's club/dance sound, is as enjoyable as a single as Health's "Painkiller."

If you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, the soundtrack is punctuated by dubstep. In case you missed it, dubstep is "a thing," now. Sure, it's been around, in some form or other, since the late 90s, but in the last couple of years it has exploded in popularity, appearing in everything, including cereal commercials. Video game soundtracks seem to have latched onto the trend more than most, as we saw with "Borderlands 2," and "Far Cry 3" last year.

The thing most music snobs hate to admit is that when done well, dubstep can be rather enjoyable. "Swallowed," "The Trade," and "Mean Dick" (yes, really) are standouts for their unique blend of subtle dubstep elements (again, yes, really) with both the transient and industrial sounds that make the rest of the soundtrack so compelling.

The problem with the rest of DMC's dubstep is it tends to lean toward the generic. For instance, "Poison Theme" and "Barbas Theme" blend into one other more than a little. It's possible that gameplay lends some context to the themes, but frankly, it's hard to imagine how that would be.

Bottom line: If you're willing to suffer a few repetitive tracks, most of which include dubstep, "DMC Devil May Cry" is an enjoyable soundtrack. The ambient, industrial/technostep tracks help weave a narrative that is, by and large, cohesive and accessible outside of gameplay. Noisia fans will want to pick this up if for no other reason than to appreciate the spectrum of sound they are able to create on one album. It's a little early to be handing out laurels for 2013, but it's safe to say that "DMC Devil May Cry (Original Soundtrack)" is one of the early surprises of this year.